Times Change Without Us
by Demicat
Summary: When Maddie Fenton dies unexpectedly of cancer, Vlad makes a chose that with turn everyone's lives upside down.
1. Chapter 1   Tragedies that Change

****Chapter 1 – Tragedies that Change****

_(Amity Park, Illinois, if the events of DP happened at the end of the 19__th__ century.)_

The icy rain bit through clothes and trickled down spines that winter's night, though the two men standing across from one another were oblivious to it as they starred unmoving down at the fresh grave between them, tears forming freezing lines down their faces.

"I can't… I can't believe she's gone" the lanky silver haired man sobbed, the other bulkier man just grunted nodding, unable to form words.

"I lov- We, we loved her …so much… how can she be _gone_?" Vlad continued his voice braking on the last word.

"I- I don't know, the- the doctor said that she probably had the heart murmur since childhood, but it- it went unnoticed be-because she keep herself health, oh why!" Jack finished the statement with a broken yell.

"Oh! such tragedy, oh death is So unfair, always taking from us those we truly love " said an unusually jolly voice from slightly beside them, they jumped from their mutual misery, to see a creepily cheerful, plump man in weird clothes and a weirder hat perched on top of a folding chair left over from the funeral earlier.

"Ghost!" yelled Jack jumping back a step and searching his pockets for the mini ecto-cannon he just _knew_ had to be there.

"Oh no! You have me mistaken, sir I'm no ghost, I'm the one that may be able to bring your beloved Madeline back " the man replied looking between the two merrily, Vlad and Jack just starred at him, Jack's search for a gun momentarily forgotten.

"Wha- what do you mean?" they both said.

"Well… just what it sounded like sirs I. Can. Bring. Her. Back. All-you-have-to-do-is-sign-this-_silly_-little-contact! Hum? How about it? " The Millennium Earl said rushed out the lump of words in the middle in a burble that Jack and Vlad barely heard as they were drawn in by the way the Earl was grinning in a confidence inspiring way.

****page****

It was dawn and Danny was laying in his bed, his eyes dry and red from crying and his mind blank in grief, but he pulled himself from it when someone knocked lightly on his door.

"Danny? Are you awake?" Jazz whispered from the hallway obviously to not wake him if he was asleep.

"Yeah Jazz, come in" he replied in a detached sort of way, he sat up leaning his head back against the cool wood of the headboard as she walked through the door in an emotionally exhausted way and sat herself down in his desk chair, hugging her arms around herself.

"Danny did you notice? Dad hasn't come home from the cemetery yet, I'm worried, its' pretty cold out there" Jazz said, Danny nodded in agreement replying,

"Yeah you're right, maybe we should go get him?" Jazz nodded to this and held up a warm coat and stood waiting as Danny scrambled out of bed and dragged a shirt over his head.

**page**

The cemetery was silent in the predawn as Jazz stopped at the gate, pausing she looked up the hill to the black block of the empty church, before dismounting and rolling the bike over to the fence were Danny was leaning, his ghostly form glowing softly after having phased back into the visual spectrum.

"At least the rains stopped" Danny said looking to the recently emerged moon hanging in the sky, Jazz didn't answer him.

The two were quiet after that as they made their way through the cemetery, heading for the clearer area near the back were all the newer graves were.

"Hey, Dad? Uncle Vlad?" Jazz and Danny both called as they neared they mother's Stone.

"Where are they? I hope Vlad hasn't… Hey Dad what are you two doing in there!" Jazz yelled as she ran into the shadowy edges of the woods.

"Hey Jazz wait up!" Danny called after her as he followed the crunch of her snow boots on the icy ground further into the darkened woods.

****End****

Uh hello… yes I know I'm starting _yet another_ story although I haven't finished _any_ of my others, …well I don't have a good excuse for that but, at least I'm writing _something_ right? –D.C.


	2. Chapter 2 The Ghoul

****Chapter 2 – The Ghoul****

Toby jumped awake at the sounds of a faint scream, bolting out of bed he pulled open the curtains and looked out into the night, but frowned when he perceived no obvious signs of …anything really, which was odd.

'_Probably just another ghost'_ he sighed and turned back to his now messy bed.

When he'd become an Exorcist he'd assumed he'd see more action than this –not that he was _eager_ too- he just thought that considering there supposedly _millions_ of Akuma and comparably few Exorcists that his job would be a lot more life threatening then it was, after all the other Exorcists went on and on about how it wasn't uncommon to but sent on a mission at least once a week, but Toby had found his reality was much quieter.

'_Especially after getting stationed into this weird town'_ he thought, he'd been sent here to monitor (because the American Branch _never_ had enough finders at its disposal), the strange creatures that the town called 'ghosts' since it was obvious that they weren't Akuma his superiors had told him to stay and try to learn more just in case, although he hadn't been able to discover much about them other than the knowledge that these 'ghosts' -though dangerous and mischievous- clearly lacked much of the _evil_ that the Akuma embodied, although the local ghost hunters that insisted that the 'ghosts' were bad enough in their willful fighting and the regular destruction they caused around the town.

Still… Toby had trouble finding fear in such obviously sentient beings, although that probably had a lot to do with the fact that, although people here were sometimes injured by the 'ghosts' no one had ever been killed by one, that and the 'ghost boy' that regularly saved others from his follow 'ghosts' and fought said 'ghosts' in a way that showed that he was obviously different and or alienated by them, though the ghost hunters just seemed to hate _him_ all the more.

He was just about to climb back into bed when another scream rang out this one infinitely _louder_ in a soul deep way and he turned back to the window in time to see a great beam of green light shine out from the forest behind the cemetery.

'_That can't be the 'ghosts' they avoid the cemetery of all places'_ he thought to himself before pulling on his Exorcist's uniform and grabbing the flexible longbow that his innocence took the form of, before dashing from the room, down the stairs and out of the house.

As Toby ran across the empty street and through the cemetery towards the most recent grave, that of one Madeline Fenton the wife of a well known local ghost hunter, but Toby was quick to run on towards the forest in the calm birdsong of the winter morning, his only thought was _'shit, shit, shit! If this is an Akuma I'm so not prepared for this!_' he jumped the fence at the back of the cemetery and ran full pelt into the darkness of the woods.

The scene that presented Toby when he reached the clearing in the center of the woods was one that would join the small horrific set of memories and mental images that would haunt the backs of his eyelids 'til the end of his days.

Directly in front of him floated the ghost boy in all his black-clothed white-haired glowing glory, but Phantom hadn't noticed him yet as he was obviously too busy fighting to protect a young woman that Toby recognized as the daughter of the Fenton's and then noticed Mr. Fenton himself lying on the ground behind a boulder on the other side of the clearing starring at both the ghost boy and the Akuma with confusion, horror and morbid curiosity echoed into his usually jolly features.

Toby took all this in, within an instant before turning his attention on the Akuma, and a strange one it was too; Toby himself hadn't seen a great many Akuma in his 23 years of life (4 of those years as a trained Exorcist) but he knew instinctively _this_ wasn't like anything that had been run across by any of the other Exorcists' that he knew, no… _this_ mutated thing looked like what would happen if you took an Akuma and squashed it into a blender (or meat-grinder) with a ghost and watched what came out.

No… this if possible was worse than anything he'd heard of, because at least the normal Akuma had the decency to _look_ sort of demonic and other, this horrible double height humanoid form, with its two horns of black hair and long cape-like white and red dragonfly wings, blue and magenta marbled skin, glowing red lid-to-lid eyes, and the pearly iridescence that Toby had come to associate with the more powerful ghosts.

"Magnificent isn't he? " a voice exclaimed from a nearby stump and Toby and ghost boy's eyes darted to the form of Millennium Earl, sitting merrily on the stump waving his umbrella around much to the pumpkin on its tips' nausea,

"Who are you? You're not a ghost?" the ghost boy shouted, obviously feeling very much out of his depth,

"Ah who I am is of no consequence to you little spirit, you are beyond my reach, -for now- but the Exorcist hiding in the bushes knows me as the Earl of Millennium " the Earl exclaimed, the ghost boy and the young woman jumped, than tried unsuccessfully to look around into the bushes and keep their eyes on the Akuma/ghost thing _and_ the Earl, Mr. Fenton lying behind his boulder (obviously forgotten) just looked on in rage.

Seeing his cover blown anyway, Toby stepped out of the shadowy forest and into the moon and ghost-glow lit clearing.

"What do you want Earl?" Toby yelled in what he hoped was his most confident voice, striding forward to stand next to the the girl and the ghost boy.

"Why would I want anything now? I've got _more_ than what I came for, I came for a simple Akuma and well can't you see? I've got some far more interesting, an Akuma/ghost hybrid, in fact I think I'll call him a ghoul it has a nice ring to it does it not? " the Earl prattled on, hopping down from his stump and trotting over to the newly named 'ghoul' and patting it on the wing.

"Well I'll be seeing you, goodbye! " the Earl called as he and the 'ghoul' disappeared.

"Thank god they're gone" Toby sighed, as three deflated, the immediate threats gone, Mr. Fenton scrambled up from his prone position and dashed forward to them scooping Jazz up into a hug, he then look slightly sheepish when he let go and starred at the ghost boy.

"Danny? Is it really you?" he near whispered, the ghost boy looked terrified, before rushing to hug the aging ghost hunter.

"Oh dad, I was afraid to tell you! I was afraid that…" The ghost boy sobbed,

"Afraid of your mother and I and our profession, huh? Oh Danny we'd never have hurt you, son no matter what you've become, though how… you hid something as big as… death! From us is… Anyway I'm sure you had your reasons…" Mr. Fenton said as what was obviously _both_ his children hugged him, confusing Toby massively, but he shook himself of it _'not my problem!'_ he thought and turned his mind to the strange 'ghoul' creature and the Akuma.

"And you are, sir?" he blinked realising that the _three_ Fenton's were looking inquiringly at him,

"Oh! Hello I'm Toby, Mr. Fenton!" he said holding out his hand,

"Call my Jack, Toby" Jack said with shades of his usual jovial self returning with the familiar social formality.

"And we're Danny and Jazz" the Fenton kids added, the four than left the area and headed by agreement to Toby's small apartment due to its' nearness, the ghost boy's (_Danny's_ Toby told himself) ghostly glow lighting their way back through the now brighter but still dark early morning forest.

****End****


	3. Chapter 3 Experiences that Bind

****Chapter 3 - Experiences that Bind****

That evening they sat up until dawn talking; Toby told the Fenton's about the Exorcists and Akumas and then Danny explained have he came to be a half ghost and everything he knew about his condition to Toby and Jack (since Jazz already knew), since it was late Toby brought some blankets down for the three couches and chivalrously offered up his bed for Jazz.

The next morning before the Fentons went home he called Chief Estain and reported to the whole thing to her,

"Hum… right Toby I guess the only thing I can do about this is to refine your orders, hence forth I order you to remain Amity and guard this ghost boy and I'll inform the other branches of the Order to be on the look-out for this Ghoul creature" she told him before hanging up.

Toby thought about what the Chief said and came to a decision.

'Fine, if this is what she wants I'll do all I can to protect this boy, but that doesn't mean I'll listen to her if she wants me to stay only in Amity' he thought with mental grin, 'no if the time comes when I'm needed on the battlefield, I guess I'll just have to train Danny to be useful in an Akuma fight'

**page**

That was the only time Toby contacted HQ himself in the year he stayed in Amity to protect Danny.

Because for them things fell into sync very quickly; at first Danny and his family and two friends fought the ghosts and Toby fought the odd level 1 Akuma that appeared once a month, but after an incident in Easter with a ghost demanding an apology for something that happened the previous year, the Akuma started appearing more regularly and after a while some level 2's would turn up, which was when Danny started to leave the ghosts' to his friends and family more as they're skill against ghosts improved vastly and the numbers of ghost attacks decreased until only Skulker and the box ghost bothered Amity (some wards that Jack fitted the portal with were the source of that, something Danny was pretty exasperated by), while the numbers of Akumas' increased; Toby taught Danny more about the Akuma and Toby in turn found that Danny's intangibility and ice powers were inherently useful against them, often saving Toby from what should have been certain death at the last minute.

So for them that year was relatively peaceful other than the sporadic two updates that the Chief's assistant sent him that didn't contain anything of any significance that made Toby wonder why they told him, before dropping out of contact completely.

'_Not that her forgetting about me was anything new'_ Toby thought spitefully.

**page**

Six days until the anniversary of his mother's death, Danny was flying through the ghost zone towards home from training with Frostbite when Clockwork approached him asked him bring 'that Exorcist' and come to his tower and Danny didn't think anything of it at the time and never seeing the tiny glowing particles that Clockwork dropped on his head as Danny rushed off again.

Initially Toby was a little miffed that this Clockwork being knew he was an Exorcist and assumed that Danny had told him even though Toby had warned him not too, but Danny explained that Clockwork was the spirit of time and knew pretty much everything past, present and future, though he didn't know why Clockwork wanted to see him.

But eventually Toby agreed and they set off for the ghost's tower, when to arrived Clockwork was standing with a door open and quickly ushered them in, after Clockwork introduced himself, he proceeded to show them images of battle between humans and some kind of monsters with a fat man in a top hat laughed above them.

"What is that? Some kind war" Danny said then noticed that people dying were dressed in the same style as Toby, looking over at the look distressed look on the Exorcists face he turned back to Clockwork.

"Do you want us to help those people?" Danny asked Clockwork with a look of determination,

"Yes Danny, without intervention they will lose and world will be again in darkness, but that is not all" Clockwork said turning Danny to look into another portal as Toby keep starring at the first oblivious to anything else.

"Those are the things I want you to change" Clockwork said as the images in the second portal stopped, "Also the far frozen have offered you the use of their ice armor, for you use, these tasks may take a while, but I am confident to you can do it" Clockwork said as handed Danny ice armor in the form of a large ice crystal.

**End**


	4. Chapter 4 Seconds Early or Seconds Late

This is embarrassing… !^. I wasn't going to have things happen here (I was going to have Chief Estain turn up at the Fenton's after… blah blah blah! Who cares that won't happen now) but this happens around chapter 118 – 122 I think? and felt this would be the best fit for the plot I'm planning…

Also Lenali's name: have I got the right spelling? 'Cause it changes in the manga every so often... -D.C.

****Chapter 4 - Seconds Early of Seconds Late****

"Oh its' not _me_ you'll be fighting" Road grinned as the ghoul stepped forward out of the shadows,

"Meet Ghoul, he's a little experiment that the Earl made and let me tell you he's _heaps_ more dangerous than anything else you've faced" Road sneered and stood off to the side as Lavi and the ghoul sized one another up.

"Have fun fighting your own mind, try not to break too much~!" Road called as in the real world Lavi collapsed.

**page**

Lenali and Chaoji gasped as inside the box a gold portal opened and two people stepped out; a tall young man holding a longbow and a short boy with black hair.

"You were right, he got us here just in time Danny, hello we're the unplanned back-up" the blonde said, the other boy just rolled his eyes and turned to Lenali and smiled pleasantly.

"No we're not, your order doesn't know we're here… and I think we're maybe a few seconds late Toby" Danny said grabbing a hold of the three and phasing them through the box as it was yanked out of the way of Tiki's vacuum ball by Road much to Lenali and Chaoji's shock and surprise.

"Toby! you protect these two from her, while I offer that guy in there some friendly firepower" Danny said pointing and to the vacuum ball.

"Okay!" Toby yelled as Danny disappeared from sight in a flash of glowing green and white that Toby recognized as his transformation.

**page**

Inside the vacuum Allen gasped as the air was forced from his lungs, but just as he felt black edging his vision, he felt cold arms wrap around him from behind.

"Easy now, I'll get you out" a voice with an American accent said and before he knew it he found himself being set down and found he could breathe again.

"What was that? Who are you, not another white haired brat?" Tiki yelled as he and Road looked gobsmacked at the ghost boys' appearance.

"You!" Road screeched pointing at Danny frantically "I know you! You're the ghost freak that the Earl has been baiting for a year! The pair to that ghoul thing he made, that I set in that Bookman's mind just now!" this time she was alternating between pointing at Lavi and him.

"What?" the others yelled all looking bewildered (Relo and Tiki included) at her outburst, while Danny just looked waveringly between Lavi and Allen, noticing this Toby grinned and nodded towards Lavi and Danny smiled sighing as he flew intangibly into junior Bookman's red head.

"You know don't care! Be ready to fight Allen~!" Tiki yelled advancing on him as Allen struggled to fight the black still edging his vision from lack of oxygen and remembering his oath to himself.

**page**

Lavi panted as he reduced another friend-faced zombie to its clone-like form before it dissolved in a pool of glowing green goo.

Lavi turned at the strange accent and almost thought it was Allen on seeing the white hair, but blinked when he realized that this person whoever they are had glowing green eyes, was dressed all in skin-tight black and was (if it was even possible) a significant degree shorter then Allen was, he hadn't thought anyone was that short other than Bookman.

The not!Allen almost immediately started cutting through the mass of zombies with glowing green blasts, stunned at this, he wasn't aware when of his double as he blindsided him.

**page**

"No! Danny!" Toby yelled as the Exorcism sword went through Lavi and a flash of green shot out of him.

"Ouch…" Danny mumbled blearily as he skidded to a stop next to the three spectators, blinking dazedly and rubbing the quickly healing stab wound on his chest.

"Danny! What- where's the ghoul?" Toby said as he and Chaoji helped him to his feet.

"He's not here; it wasn't Vlad, just his clone…" Danny replied before bending over to hack out a blob of ectoplasm, Lenali and Chaoji just blinked mutely at Danny's ghostly appearance, but all four quickly looked back to see that Lavi was still attacking Allen.

"It _isn't_ Vlad's clone, he's gone now, he didn't overshadow him anyway, he was just a decoy along of the ride, it is really as that Road girl said 'his heart has died" Danny bit out as the wound on his chest finished closing up.

"But what about you? That sword should have killed you when he tried to exorcise Lavi?" Toby said his nausea rising at seeing Danny's injury heal so quickly, Danny looked upset at him and laughed.

"That Allen guy just said that it exorcises _evil_, I know I may be a ghost but I'm not evil! And even if I was, it would take _more_ than a sword no matter how powerful to off me, -half ghost remember?- it was bad enough that it forced me out!" Danny shouted as Chaoji and Lenali gasped when he said 'ghost'.

**page**

"Road-tama!" they heard the pumpkin Relo (Lero?) scream as Road's skeletal remains crumbled away.

Danny turned away after he and Toby were introduced as they started talking about how they would get out, only adding he two cents that if he stay and get Allen out when he found the other two.

He stayed standing there until he heard the Lenali girl scream and spun around to see the ground collapse under Allen as he fell.

"I'll catch him you lot go on before you lose the chance!" he yelled over his shoulder as he streaked through the air and down the hole.

Next to him Lavi fell also, Danny shot him a 'what are you doing here!" look as he grabbed the redhead's shoulder and slowed to a hover above the ground before dropping the rest of the way.

"The doors already gone" Lavi replied answering Allen's question and Danny's look, before Danny jumped to grab a hold of them and sent them all intangible to miss the swing the Tiki monster through them and Danny flew towards the others far above them, zigzagging as he went to miss the tentacle things of Tiki.

When he got there he gracelessly dumped Allen and Lavi next to Toby brought up a shield in vain as the tower crumbled to pieces around them.

"No…!" he heard someone yell the portion of rubble he was on fell sharply away and he looked around wildly as he tried to see the others oblivious to the column falling towards him.

**End**


	5. Chapter 5 Woeful Underestimations

**Chapter 5 – Woeful Underestimations**

When Danny came to he found himself lying inside a dome shield with the others as they watched something going on out of his line of sight.

Lavi was the first to notice he was awake and tried helped him sit up, but Danny waved him away.

"I'm fine, a rock just knocked me out, where's Toby" he said and Lavi frowned shaking his head,

"We only found you floating in the water" Lavi responded with a sigh and two turned to watch what Danny realised was a fight between Tiki and an unknown man.

It was then that the shield fell and everything started falling apart around them again, Lavi was the first to fall, Lavi's hammer shattering before Allen could grab onto him.

"I'll catch him, don't wait, go!" Danny called as he transformed and flew after Lavi.

**page**

"Didn't we just fall?" Danny heard Lavi say quietly to his right as they came to again, a groan to the left of him echoed around and Danny sat up and looked around to see Toby and Chaoji unconscious next to him and Lavi leaning against a column.

"Everything's come back together again" Danny said as he, Toby and Chaoji stood next to Lavi and looked out at the reformed ark.

"Come on! Let's find the others!" Lavi grinned and ran down the tower steps.

Danny and the other two just blinked in bewilderment before running after him.

**page**

"What! Lenali and that womanizer alone together!" Lavi, Allen and the swordsman Kanda screeched later as they were walking around the streets of the town on the ark.

"Don't worry they're not alone, Toby is with them" Danny replied and the four turned to stare at him.

"Speak of… who are you two? Toby was obviously an Exorcist but you're not, I mean not with what you can do" Lavi said turning on him,

"Nope I'm half ghost, Toby and I are from America and got sent here by another ghost because the Earl has captured the only other of my kind and has been hunting me …probably wants to finish his set" Danny replied as they blinked at him.

"Oh yeah! I remember that Road girl saying something about you being 'that ghost freak the Earls been wanting" Lavi said thoughtfully, continuing he said "but still that doesn't answer why you had an Exorcist with you" he finished with a frown.

"Its' a long story" Danny tried to warn them but they just look expectantly at him, so he started to tell them about the events from one year ago until the message from Clockwork (whose identity he didn't mention) when Danny finished they all seemed staggered Allen and Lavi the most at meeting a real ghost but they all seemed to accept it since they soon dragged him off to help rescue Lenali from the General.

**page**

When they arrived at the headquarters Danny found himself quickly forgotten as they others got caught up with either being stuck in the infirmary, being under observation or in Toby's case suffering through the quiet nonchalance of Cheif Rennie Estain and subsequently the only time he talked Toby again was when he relayed Chief Estain's message that he call his father and explain where he was and to 'kindly inform him to stop calling the Chief at six in morning' all this left Danny with nothing to do but explore and conspicuously _not_ call home.

At least until Toby streaked into the tiny guest room (that Lenali had had organized for him) and dragged him out of his nap (and practically out of the room) to tell him that he was needed to rescue the people the Akuma's had trapped in the chemistry section.

When they got there it was to the old Bookman and Allen trying to get in using their innocence's in an unsuccessful attempt to get in, Danny frowned as he transformed and after testing the barrier, he phased them all inside.

The three Exorcists immediately jumping into the fight and Danny divided his time between watching out for them, phasing the surviving scientists from their bonds and freezing any enemies that got too close.

It was of course then that reinforcements burst in through the ceiling through a portal from the Ark and of course one of them landed right on top of Danny where he was taking out a skull trying to get to the Bookman and his protectors.

'Great' Danny thought 'make my day, flatten me with a chain-sword welding maniac' he seethed as he went intangible to miss the booted feet that currently occupied the same space as he intangible head, standing and going completely intangible he stayed out of the way as the fight progressed and worked on freeing first the Bookman and then returning to free the other scientists as everyone fought around him but generally ignored his presence.

**page**

"Time to Slaughter" The level four said as it blasted Allen into a wall, leaving everyone in shock.

"Ahem, I think I might have something to say against that" Danny replied quietly phasing his ice armor incrusted fist inside the level four's chest, before releasing his invisibility and intangibility.

"Glurk!" The level four gasped as the ice blew a hole in its heart, before turning to face him "Oh you, I wasn't told you'd be here, The Master's been looking for you, since your equal Ghoul was so useful to him, but no one he sent has been able to find you when they look recently, but since you're here now I guess I'll take you to him" the level four said before launching into it scream.

Danny covered his ears at the noise and looked around; he didn't seem to affected by it much except for the shear noise but from the looks of pain of the faces of everyone else _they_ sure were, floating up closer to the screaming being, he inhaled and then sent off his _own_ ghostly wail from right next to the Akuma's ear.

"SHUT UP!" he wailed, as he trembled in the air next to it and rubble fell all around at the sheer power for a long minute before he ran out of voice.

To say the Akuma stopped, was an understatement as for a few moments it floated mutely in air before crumbling from the inside out.

"Uh! And here I thought I was useless against them…" Danny whispered in a echoing croaky voice and blinking before looking around a see _everyone_ starring at him.

"Um… what? It was too loud" he said awkwardly, before the exhaustion from using his wail set in and he fainted in midair.

**page**

"He's dead" River Wenham said sitting back from checking Danny's pulse.

"Of course he dead, he's a ghost!" Toby and Chief Estain deadpanned, as everyone stood around the unconscious boy in Bookman's arms.

"I think the things comment about 'slaughter the humans' really got to him" Toby continued thoughtfully, "but that wail thing he did, I've never seen him do that, I mean he said he _could_, just that it was… Oh whatever! Let's just get him to a nurse, he should be fine, if a little husky-voiced when he wakes up" Toby said with a look at Chief Estain who nodded.

"Toby's right, Bookman they'll accompany you as you take the boy to the infirmary, Noise Marie get Miranda and Inspector Link your already carrying Allen" it was Tiedoll that gave the orders and everyone else quickly set about cleaning up the few Skull that remained.

When they reached the infirmary's well guarded doors, Komui just blinked as he watched them walk down the hallway toward the doors behind him, before stepping out of the way and wondering if it was safe to mention how comical the diminutive Bookman looked carrying the unconscious ghost boy over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes at the head of the line.

"Open the doors" he ordered and the thirty strong procession of those carrying wounded began heading into the infirmary.

Inside Lavi and Lenali blinked before soon finding themselves being ushered into helping the nurses, went Lavi asked what happened to the level four Chief Estain paused what she doing and gave him a look, saying in her usual deadpan "The ghost boy told it to shut up …it did" before going back to wrapping a bandage the head of one of the scientists.

**End**

I like that line… _"The ghost boy told it to shut up …it did"_ it has a nice resonance to it don't you think? –D.C


End file.
